A Rumor About the Jews: Reflections on Antisemitism and The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion

"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is among the most infamous documents of antisemitism. A forgery created in Russia by the czarist secret police and quickly translated into a host of languages, it portrayed Judaism as a worldwide conspiracy dedicated to the destruction of Christian civilization. The appearance of the Protocols sparked a number of bloody pogroms and it helped shape the thinking of right-wing movements worldwide from Hitler's Nazis to contemporary antisemitic groups in Russia, the Middle East and the United States. A work of intellectual history, A Rumor About the Jews expresses the connection between antisemitism and the overarching political assault upon the enlightenment legacy taking the reader on a historical journey that provides a new and penetrating understanding of an insidious ideology and its broader implications.
Abstract: "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is among the most infamous documents of antisemitism. A forgery created in Russia by the czarist secret police and quickly translated into a host of languages, it portrayed Judaism as a worldwide conspiracy dedicated to the destruction of Christian civilization. The appearance of the Protocols sparked a number of bloody pogroms and it helped shape the thinking of right-wing movements worldwide from Hitler's Nazis to contemporary antisemitic groups in Russia, the Middle East and the United States. A work of intellectual history, A Rumor About the Jews expresses the connection between antisemitism and the overarching political assault upon the enlightenment legacy taking the reader on a historical journey that provides a new and penetrating understanding of an insidious ideology and its broader implications